


I Just Don't Belong Here

by Vampowerment



Category: High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/F, Gen, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-25 09:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7526581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampowerment/pseuds/Vampowerment
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriella has a big secret and Sharpay is going to get to the bottom of it.</p><p>Basically, Troy and Sharpay bond over trying to figure out what's up with Gabriella, meanwhile Chad and Ryan bond over having their best friends become best friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

New Years Eve. Honestly, Gabriella could understand the appeal. It makes perfect sense that people mentally compartmentalize each year to the point where each year felt like a new life, a new breath of fresh air. Though she understood, she honestly couldn’t care less.  
“Come on, Gabby.” her mother told her softly. “You’ve been stuck in your room for too long now. We’re worried about you… You should go out and have fun again! We know this is tough for you but please try to make the best of it.”  
“I haven’t been stuck in my room.” She reasoned “I’ve gone to school everyday… Plus I don’t actually have a set room.”  
“Gabriella… You know exactly what I mean.”  
Despite her protests, she understood her mother’s concern. It made perfect sense. She had been rather… Solitary lately. That’s why she agreed to go to this party, despite the fact she isn’t a big fan of parties for multiple reasons. One, there's people there. Two, you’re expected to socialize with the people there. Three, exactly what’s happening right now.  
People all over have paused, eyes on her. She’s suffocating under their harsh gaze and no matter where she turns she’s met with more eyes.  
This is BAD.  
“Y’know what? Someday you guys might thank me for this.” The guy who shoved her up there says with a chuckle. “Or not.” He grins and walks of the stage.  
This is BAD.  
The boy standing next to her doesn’t look to thrilled either. His eyes are wide in an expression she assumes is similar to her own. A soft piano melody begins to play on the speakers and words appear on the screen. Gabriella tightens the grip she has on her upper arms and closes her eyes.  
The boy next to her starts off singing, glancing at her. She looks back at him, fearful. He clears his throat and sings a little louder. As soon as the verse finishes he shoots her a helpless look and turns around. She shuts her eyes for a second and breathes, trying to calm down. She’s surprised she managed to get any words out at all, much less words that didn’t sound half bad.  
The boy turns around quickly and stares at her. She tries her best to ignore him. When he picks up singing again he’s appeared to have gained confidence. It’s….. Starting to rub off on her. She’s hardly loosened her grip on her arms but her voice is coming out clearer and she’s smiling a bit. She… hasn’t done that in a while.  
Though she’s still incredibly terrified, the boy next to her seems to be right at home in the spotlight. He grins and throws his jacket into the spotlight and starts swaying with the music. Gabriella grips her microphone tightly and tries to relax like he has. Her singing partner is passionately singing his heart out as he dips the microphone on the stage and turns to her with a look on his face that nearly has her giggling. Her fears are melting away as the whole ordeal becomes…. Kind of fun.  
Then he starts to get closer to her. She backs away slowly until she falls of the stage. She expects herself to freak out and freeze up but when she’s pushed back up she feels as relaxed as before and continues belting out the last few lyrics.  
The song ends. The boy doesn’t leave. They talk for a few minutes. Just… small talk about singing. She learns his name is Troy and that despite his dramatic performance, he’s never done anything like that before. She admits she was in choir before her crippling stage fright got the better of her. They exchange numbers and she runs off in one piece.  
Odd.  
Well, despite the fact that wasn’t totally awful, she still plans on never speaking to him again and going back to her respectable life as a hermit. She can’t afford to get close to people with everything going on in her life. This was a one time thing, something that won’t happen again or have any further consequence. She’s sure of that.

She walks into class the next monday and nearly walks right back out. No. Way. Karaoke boy is sitting right up in the front row. Why does the universe hate her? Is this some kind of cruel joke?  
A blonde girl who’s wearing so much glitter it hurts her eyes makes eye contact with her for a moment and either some kind of silent understanding or big miscommunication happens, and whatever it is she’s grateful because the blonde girl jumps right between her and Troy without a second’s pause.  
Gabriella takes this moment to quickly run to the very back of the classroom while Troy’s distracted. She can see him desperately trying to look around the girl sitting on his desk. The teacher walks in and unfortunately the sparkly blonde has to move. Troy takes out his phone and she can see her picture come up on it. He turns around and looks right at her and she quickly ducks behind her books.  
The class’s phones get taken up when the teacher--who Gabriella then learns is Ms. Darbus--spots Troy’s. The rest of the class is forced to hand in their phones and detentions are then rewarded seemingly at random.  
Class ends soon enough. Troy’s first out the door and Gabby makes a point to be the last. She walks out of the room to find Troy leaning against the wall grinning at her.  
This is gonna be a loooonnnng few months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!! this first chapter follows canon rather closely, but it will diverge more and more as the story progresses


	2. Chapter Two

Sharpay Evans knew something was up. The second she met eyes with that new girl, saw the fear in her eyes and the way she glanced at Troy, she vowed to figure it out. She could have let it escalate there, and that could have led to some juicy information, or it could have ended up with a quick hi-bye with no profit. Sharpay knows how to use people. She knows how they work. Her dad’s a business man and his tactics miight rub off on her a tad. 

The solution was easy, really. She distract Troy, earn the girl’s trust, demand details later. Boom.

She just didn’t realize the musical was going to enter the equation.

She writes her name in big letters across the sign up sheet, glancing back at Troy and Gabriella. “What’s impossible, Troy?” she asks innocently. Glancing at Gabriella, she spikes up the venom a bit and adds “I wouldn’t think ‘impossible’ is even in you’re vocabulary.” Not her best work, but improv isn’t her specialty. 

Though her goal was to make Gabriella feel more welcome by pushing Troy down, the uncomfortable look on her face makes it look like Sharpay’s methods were off a bit. She quickly offers them the pen and suggests a role in the supporting cast. The pair refuse immediately and brush it off as if they were just “looking at the bulletin board.” What a lame excuse. 

Something is Up.

The bell rings and Sharpay immediately throws her arm around Gabriella and steers her away from Troy.

“What’s your next class? Math? No way, me too! I can show you the way.” She smiles at Gabriella before glancing back at Troy. “Toodles! Have fun playing sportsball or whatever.”

“Uh.. thank’s for the help, Sharpay, but I’m sure i can find the way myself…” Gabriella says. “Because I… Don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“Nonesense! I’m just nice like that.”  _ And I want information.  _ “So, new girl, enjoying East High?”

“Everyone’s really nice and... social.” Gabriella says softly.

“Great! Now spill the beans on Trooyyy.” Subtly isn’t Sharpay’s specialty.

“What?”

“You were looking at him like he killed your cat. Let it out of the bag.” 

“I.. was?” Gabriella was gripping her upper arms tightly, eyes so wide they could’ve popped out of her head.

“Uh, yeah! Now, us girls gotta stick together, ok? If Troy’s being mean to you let me know. I’ve got your back.” Sharpay smiles reassuringly. “Now tell me the dirt you have on him! I’m all ears.”

“I… uh…” Gabriella only looked more panicked. “Hey! Isn’t that our class right here? I’d better go find a spot.” and with that, Sharpay was left scowling at her back.

Actually, that was how Sharpay spent most of the class. Staring at Gabriella. Purely because the girl was hiding something, of course. 

Gabriella spent most of the class talking to Taylor McKessie, or rather being talked to by Taylor and talking just enough to not come across as rude. The most she spoke all class was when she corrected an error the teacher made which caused Taylor to light up and Gabriella to shrink further into her seat. 

When class ended, Gabriella was the first out of the class--narrowly avoiding any more confrontations. Sharpay just had to find another way to get information. She pulls out her phone and punches numbers in with quick precision. It’s answered on the second ring. 

“Ryan! Meet me in the library ASAP!” Sharpay demands, before her brother can get a ‘hello’ out. Without waiting for his response, she hits end hall and marches to the library.

 

“So, can you tell me  _ why  _ we’re here?”

“Gabriella Montez.” Sharpay says quickly as she types the same name into the search bar. “She’s hiding something. I need to find out what.”   
“Uh, who?” Ryan asks.

“The new girl! That’s who! Ugh, it’s like you don’t pay attention.” She drums her pink nails on the table as she waits for the computer to load. Ugh, why’s school wifi so slow?

“You’re one to talk.” Ryan laughs. “What sport does Troy play again?”   
“Baseball, duh. That’s why he’s always wearing those baseball tees. It’s like he has one in every color.”   
“Basketball, Shar. It’s basketball.” 

“No fair!” She exclaims, but can barely think of  _ why _ it’s not fair; however, it’s then that the search finishes loading so she’s saved by the distraction. “Genius girl?” 

“That’s not much of a secret.”  Ryan says, looking at the screen.

“Ugh, there’s gotta be something.” Sharpay mutters as she clicks the first link. The article loads and has a picture of Gabriella looking just like she does now, no embarrassing pimples or anything. “This can’t be it…”   
“Well, maybe it is.” Ryan’s eyes widen as he points to the date. “This article was written a couple years ago yet read this here…”

“...It says it was her ‘4th consecutive year winning the high school competition.” Sharpay reads. “But that would mean she graduated two years ago!”

“You’re right. There’s definitely something up with her.” 

“When am I not right.” Upon seeing Ryan’s face her smug expression falls into a stern one. “Don’t answer that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, now we're getting somewhere.


	3. Chapter Three

Troy’s glad to be back on the court. Rather, since he had been on the court nearly every day over break, he was glad to be back with his team. He hoped that basketball would get his mind off the whole singing thing. It’s not like he’s inexperienced in the whole replace-feelings-with-sports shebang since that’s practically how he’s lived his whole life. 

That whole day he felt like jumping on the tables and singing at the top of his lungs. Grabbing Gabriella’s hand and pulling her up with him so they could sing together again and he could listen to the way their voices sounded together and forget all his problems. 

Of course, that wouldn’t work a bit considering his problem right now was thinking about singing. He can’t allow himself to focus on singing. He CAN’T focus on anything but basketball! Then he’ll mess up and everyone will hate him and his father will disown him. Logically, he knows that won’t happen, but  _ What If It Does?!? _ ? Troy doesn’t want to find out the hard way. 

“Did you know you get extra credit just for auditioning?” He blurts without thinking. That’s not good. He’s been friends with Chad his whole life. He knows Chad hates any kind of change with a passion. One little thing’s off and he freaks.

Luckily Chad just laughs and brushes off the thing. On one hand, Troy’s relieved, but it also stings. Troy spends most of practice so stuck in his own head he accidentally sings at one point. Jason gives him an odd look and he panics, throwing the ball over his shoulder. He’s barely aware of what he’s doing and he’s glad when he manages to get out of there, brushing off Chad’s concern.

He starts taking every detour he can think of to go who knows where when he’s cornered. 

“Oh hey, Troy… Didn’t see you there.” Sharpay smirks nonchalantly, while standing in front of the only way off the roof. He hadn’t realized he’d gone straight there until he couldn’t leave.

“Oh, heyy Sharpay….” So much for his plan of Avoiding People. This is probably for the best anyway, because Troy hates being alone. Simultaneously wanting to avoid confrontation while still being around people is the worst.

“I actually wanted to ask you something. You seem like you know Gabriella better than anybody here.” She pauses a second and taps her chin in thought. “No, actually, I don’t think anybody really knows her.”

“What are you talking about?”  
“What I’m saying is, let’s combine our knowledge and figure her out, ok?” She sticks out her hand.

“You lost me.” Troy sighs. 

“Ok, let’s try this again. I found out something about her. Something…. weird, and I want to figure it out.” Sharpay reaches into her bag and pulls out a sheet of paper. “I found this last period.” She hands him the paper and he sees it has a black and white picture of Gabriella.

“Wow, so she’s really smart. That doesn’t seem that weird to me? Am I missing something?”

“Like always.” She sighs, rolling her eyes. She points to the date on the article, and then at a sentence further down. 

“That doesn’t make any sense!”  
“Exactly!” Sharpay snatches the paper back and puts it back into her bag. “Now you understand? Tell me what you know. I’m on your side.”

“But I don’t even know what the sides are, Sharpay. We found out… I don’t even know what. It could mean anything or it could mean nothing.” Troy sighs. 

“But, Troy! You know something! I saw the look on her face when she saw you this morning. She looked terrified! It has to be because you know something!” 

Wait, what? Terrified? What.. did he do wrong? Was it when she fell of the stage? Was he too much at karaoke? Was he that bad a singer? She told him he was good but was she lying? Was it because of his dancing? Was he too forward when he took a selfie on her phone? Was he hogging the spotlight? No, she seemed like she really hated the spotlight… Did she blame him for the whole night? He.. thought they had fun…

“Uh, Earth to Troy?” She snapped in front of his face. 

“Sorry..” He grumbles, trying to shake his thoughts. “Does.. she hate me?”  
Sharpay looks surprised at the genuine hurt on his face. “So… You don’t know anything?” She says surprisingly softly.

“Karaoke.” He says softly. “We did Karaoke on New Years Eve. I… thought we both had fun? She had an amazing voice… But she hates me?”  
“I didn’t say she hates you I said she looked scared.” Sharpay rolls her eyes, but seems gentle. “Look, if you don’t know anything I’ll leave you alone. But keep an eye out, alright? Let me know if you learn anything.” She picks up her bag and starts to leave but Troy stops her. “Look, lunch is almost over as is. I have a salad with my name on it I still want to get to.” 

She leaves, and Troy sits down. He didn’t know how to face anyone at the moment. He had too much to absorb. He didn’t know how to begin thinking about it. His mind was going a mile a minute filled with thoughts that hardly helped the situation. Geez, what even was the situation? So.. Gabriella’s old, but not old, and hates him, but not really, and he likes singing, but he can’t like singing… He doesn’t know how long he sits there picking apart a leaf in his hands before the bell rings. He walks down the stairs to class, his mind buzzing with more confusion than he had when he ran out of the gym.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay a Troy chapter!!!!!!! Troy is 100% my favorite character and I overanalyze him constantly. Check out my tumblr (@vampowerment) for more Troy talk because I never shut up about that boy.


	4. Chapter Four

Chad Danforth had no idea what was going on. First Troy was chatting up the new girl, then he went missing after free period, and last but not least--

Chad was sitting in a tree. Not a real tree, one made out of cardboard. That he painted. Troy’s sitting on top of the tree, messing with a fake leaf he’d cut out of paper. They were originally going to have to cover the whole tree in leaves like that but luckily Troy talked Kelsi into having the play take place around winter time, and she was surprisingly agreeable to change. After a team effort--Chad painting green lines on the cardboard and Troy cutting out leaves--they had finished up and now Chad sat inside the tree trying to catch some Z’s. He honestly wasn’t sleepy after a whole break of relaxation, but he felt it added to the ‘don’t care’ vibe he was trying to expel. 

Darbus should give him extra credit for his performance. 

He’d assume Troy was doing the same thing, except Troy had that look on his face where he’s simultaneously really focused on something but still not quite present? Chad assumes he still does, at least, since he’s spent most of detention with that look. He’s ask Troy about it but he knew that it would go one of two ways. One, Troy brushes it off saying it’s fine and the conversation is over. Two, Troy explains what’s going on and Chad freaks out because talking about feelings is hard. Better to keep silent really.

He has no idea how long they spend in that tree before Troy’s dad barges in and takes them back to the court. He feels like he should be relieved, but sitting in the tree wasn’t half bad.

...not that he’d ever admit that to Darbus… 

Troy’s still in his own head when they leave practice. Chad’s known him long enough to know that he’ll probably be fine tomorrow and just needs to work it out on his own, but is still concerned. They walk up to the front of the school where they see Sharpay pulled up front in her pink convertible with something Chad recognizes from one of his mom’s Broadway CD’s blasting from the speakers. He couldn’t name the show if he tried.

“Troy! Ryan! Switch!” she yells simply. Ryan barely protests as he gets out of the car and Troy seems almost relieved to take his place. “Toodles!” and with that, Sharpay pulls over to the far corner of the parking lot.

“Uh, Evans? Any idea what that was about?” Chad asks, walking over to the boy who had just been kicked out of the car.

“She’s scheming.” He says with a shrug. Upon seeing Chad’s alarmed face he clarifies “It’s about the new girl. Shar doesn’t trust her.” 

“And Troy’s involved… Why?” Chad prods.

“Beats me. She normally only tells me half her plans.”

“And you let her… Why?” 

“It’s not worth the effort.” Ryan says with a shrug. “Plus, when she doesn’t get her drama fix she’s moody. I can’t  _ wait _ until the musical starts up. She’s always happier when she’s in a production.”

“So.. What’s the musical about?” Chad asks without thinking. He honestly doesn’t care about the musical AT ALL. Heck, if it was anyone else talking he’d rather run back to detention to shove leaves in his ears, but… Somehow he wanted to hear what Ryan had to say about it. The way Ryan lit up when Chad asked made him feel something he refused to process.

“Oh! Well the musical is a story about-”

**_HONK_ **

Chad and Ryan both jumped as Sharpay’s rather dainty looking pastel convertible screamed at them quite loudly. 

“Time to switch back! Troy, get out! Ryan, get back here I’m your ride home.”

Somehow when the convertible pulled away, Chad was thinking more about the plot of Twinkle Towne than the incident with Sharpay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's short. Chad doesn't know enough about the main plot for me to stay in his pov for more than this, but I reeeallllyy wanted to write him. Tiny bit of Chyan in this chapter if you squint. This fic is very slow burn and isn't ship centric in the first place, but Chyan is endgame and there will be much more bonding etc between the two later.  
> Also... I am forever bitter that there's no official plot of Twinkle Towne.... Merely that one theory article that got passed around as canon for a few weeks back in like January/February...


	5. Chapter Five

Troy doesn’t like this plan. 

“She’s  _ obviously _ already closer to you because you performed together. No one shares a greater bond than coleads. I should know.” Sharpay explained as the two sat together at the back of the parking lot. 

“But you said she’s afraid of me!” Troy exclaimed. He really didn’t think that plan would work.

“Uh, yeah? She’s probably trying to keep her… _whatever it is_ under wraps! She was afraid she’d let information slip.”  
“So you want me to force her to let information slip? That doesn’t sound like a good idea…” 

“You have a better one? And anyway, all you need to do is let her trust you. Should be easy peasy. You seem like a trustworthy boy scout type to most people so she should be one of them.” 

Yep. Troy really doesn’t like this plan. He’s absentmindedly drumming his fingers on his desk as he waits for Gabriella to show up to Ms. Darbus’s class. He keeps shooting Sharpay a  _ “do I have to? I don’t feel right about this and she probably hates me”  _ look and she keeps responding with a  _ “you’ll do fine, now don’t blow it” _ look back. Chad’s looking back and forth between the two of them confused. Sharpay glances at her brother and back at Chad. Ryan shrugs and turns to talk to him. 

After a while of silent glances, Gabriella finally shows up. Troy can feel Sharpay’s eyes on him as he walks over to her.

“Hey, Gabriella.” He says in what he hopes is a casual tone. 

“Oh! Hi, Troy…” A look of panic flashes over her face and she glances hurriedly at the clock.

Ok. Small talk. Gain her trust. That’s what Sharpay said to do… Conversation topics…

“So about the Winter Musical…” Oh boy, that is NOT a topic he wants to talk about. But… Sharpay said that performing together helps people trust each other….

What is he thinking? If he does the musical, then he won’t have as much time for basketball. If he doesn’t have enough time for basketball, his performance will slip and he’ll let his team down which will let his dad down and he won’t get a career in basketball which will also let his dad down. He’ll get disowned and be living on the street all because he thought singing would be a fun way to bond with a secretive girl…

“What about the Winter Musical?” Gabriella asks.

“We should audition.” No! They should not audition!

“What a splendid idea, Troy! I never knew you were a thespian!” and now Darbus is here. Great.

“Oh, uh, I was just… It was just an idea? Barely a possibility, honestly, uh…” He stutters. No no no no….

“I expect to see both of you there during free period today.” Darbus insists. Oohhh boy… “Now take a seat! We can’t start class with the two of you standing, can we? Don’t make me hand our more detentions…”

 

“ _ What was that?!” _ Sharpay hisses after class. Troy winces.

“You said to get to know her and gain her trust? And that there’s no greater trust than between performers?” 

“That was before I knew  _ MY MUSICAL _ would be at stake!!” Sharpay exclaims. “No matter how much fun you had at karaoke, a full production is serious business that I need to be in charge of! It isn’t going to be a part of any scheming, ok?!”

“What if I wanted to get in?” Troy asks quietly. No no no no….

“Are you sure, Troy? Are you really sure about that?” She sighs. “Look, whether you do or whether you don’t, I’m getting the lead. Ok?”

“What if me and Gabby get it?” He asks.

“YOU won’t let that happen.” With that, she walked away. Which was honestly a smart move because the bell was about to ring.

One class later and it was time for him to go audition. He was also expected to be at basketball practice and would have to explain to his dad why he was in the theater instead. Fun. If he was lucky, Chad would explain the whole thing using nice friendly words. Realistically, Jason blurted the news out bluntly and without a second thought. 

Troy walked into the theater feeling rather unsure of himself. Sharpay and Ryan where sitting next to each other in the middle of the theater and Ms. Darbus was on stage with Kelsi getting ready for auditions. Troy sat next to Sharpay, who insisted he sit a small bit away but within earshot so she can listen in without Gabriella knowing. Troy might’ve rolled his eyes.

Gabby showed up and Troy waved her over. She reluctantly sat next to him. He felt kind of guilty.

“You seem… really uncomfortable?” He sighs. “Is it me? If I’m being to forward please tell me, I honestly just want to be your friend?” She seems to soften up after that and Troy doesn’t know if it’s out of guilt or if she’s genuinely warming up to him. She reassures him that he’s fine, she’s just not used to socializing. Troy wonders if that has anything to do with her situation

Auditions start and they’re surprisingly awful. At… least everyone’s having a good time? There’s four lead roles and he can’t imagine all the others getting any of them. Sharpay and Ryan’s audition goes predictably well. With their full choreography Troy’s surprised Sharpay was worried at all. He and Gabby haven’t even seen the music before, much less gotten a full routine down.

“Break a leg!” Sharpay calls with a wink as she gets off the stage. Troy has a feeling she means that literally. 

“Hey, Kelsi.” Troy says as the two walk over to the piano. “What are we singing? That?”

“Well, not exactly.” She says with a shrug. “It’s supposed to be a lot slower than that… A dramatic yet uplifting ballad about finding someone who gets you after so long alone…” 

“Sounds pretty nice.”  Gabriella says softly.

“Uh, yeah that’s the goal. Here,” She hands both of them a page of lyrics and notes. Troy has no idea what the notes soundlike and figures he’ll just attempt to sing the words at about the same melody as the piano? Yeah.. that should work…

As they sing, Gabriella begins to seem more comfortable. The first note out of Troy’s mouth and he’s dramatically moving with the music and struggling to balance his bravado with his need to stare at the paper. Troy, for the time he was up there singing, felt like he belonged. It was an overwhelming feeling, one that he never really got on the court. The two sang their last notes and he was left leaning on the piano, breathing heavily and sweating under the spotlight. Gabriella had a slight smile on her face--the happiest she’d looked since karaoke. 

“Bravo! Bravo!” Ms. Darbus exclaimed. “I’ll see the four of you at callbacks!”

Sharpay’s mouth fell open in an offended expression. 

Troy knew this was a bad idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> troy trash #1 right here visit my tumblr @vampowerment for your daily dose of me screaming about troy bolton


	6. Chapter Six

Sharpay is offended. She took Troy under her wing, put her trust in him, and he BETRAYS her! This is not what she wanted. This is not what she planned.

“I just gotta say, I do  **NOT** understand!” She yells at Troy the second she’s able to get him alone. 

“What?” Troy asks, confused. Hours have passed at this point because he ran off after Gabriella after auditions and despite her anger, Sharpay knew it was for the best to let him  _ bond _ with her to get information. Then class started and she didn’t have any classes with him, so she left her last period early and waited for him outside his class. She yanked him away from his friends as soon as he left the classroom. Troy shot an apologetic look back and Zeke looked jealous. 

“Um, auditions? Duh!!” Sharpay exclaims. Of course it wasn’t that important to him. Of course.

“Was.. I good?” Troy asks apprehensively. He looks a little vulnerable and Sharpay almost wants to reassure him.

“That’s the problem!! I  _ don’t _ want any competition from someone who doesn’t take this seriously! Theatre is my  _ ENTIRE LIFE _ and it’s what I want to do after high school! I need as much experience as I can get if I want to make it big!” Sharpay can’t believe how insensitive Troy is.

“But… You’d still be in the production?” Troy looks guilty. “Even if me and Gabby somehow got the leads. Plus you wouldn’t have a romantic subplot with your brother..?”  
“Ew! I was going to force Kelsi to write that out, Troy! DUH! Did you even see our previous productions? We always have Kelsi write out the romance! It’s kind of her specialty.” Sharpay can’t believe this. “That’s the only reason she was trusted to compose an entire musical. She always has to rewrite them anyway once Ryan and I get the leads.”

“That makes sense…” Troy says. 

“You still haven’t explained yourself, Troy.” 

“I…” He trails off. He’s shaking a little bit, and he gets a distant yet focussed look in his eyes. He furrows his brows. “I don’t know?” He finally says, after a minute or so passed. He looks Sharpay in the eyes. She looks back expectantly. “I know there’s.. Something? I guess? Like some kind of gut feeling where it.. Feels right? Like it’s how things are supposed to happen?” He sighs. “Wow, I’m not making much sense. This doesn’t make much sense.” 

“Alright…” Sharpay says.

“Alright?” Troy’s bewildered. 

“Y’know, like I accept but I’m not thrilled?” Sharpay answers. “Like, if theatre’s your calling I won’t stop you, but I’m the one who deserves the lead, alright? 

Troy sighs in relief. “Alright.”

“So! Any new dirt on Gabriella?” 

Troy winces. “I don’t want to get  _ dirt _ on her I just want to figure out what’s up and maybe help her?”

“Yeah, sure, that. Anything?” 

“She said something about how she can’t have people staring at her? Does that sound important?”  
“Eh, maybe. We can add it to the list.” Sharpay shrugs. “Anything else?”

“Just that she hopes callbacks aren’t at night because she doesn’t think she can make it if it’s past sundown?”

Um, jackpot!

“Troy, that sounds like CRITICAL information!” Sharpay squealed. “We HAVE TO go to the library RIGHT NOW and research it further!”

Ok, confession time. Sharpay does research, like, a  _ lot. _ Whether it’s to find dirt on people who oppose her, or to help perfect her portrayal of a character, or even if it’s just something that interests her, she looks it up. She’s gotten really good at filtering her searches juust riight. She can scan through a page for valuable info fast. So now that they have a good clue? Sharpay’s confident they can find out what Gabriella is fast.

“I kinda have basketball practice in the gym I need to get to?” Troy says. “I skipped it for auditions and my dad’s gonna be mad…”

“Ugh! Fiiine go do your sports stuff but meet me in the library as soon as you're done and showered.” Sharpay marches off towards the library before Troy can protest.

She waits forever for the computer to turn on and then starts typing various searches into Google. The two things she knows so far about Gabriella’s supernatural side is that a) she doesn’t age and b) she can’t hang out at night. She figures this second one could mean either than she can’t control herself at night, the moonlight can hurt her, she has something she needs to do at night, or she’s like Cinderella and her beautiful face wears off at night. 

Of course, Sharpay finds werewolf stuff. Some believe werewolves age slower, which honestly doesn’t make much sense because canines age faster than humans.

When searching variations of “supernatural creatures night” she finds articles on Night Hags. She finds the idea of Gabriella being a Night Hag funny but doubts that she just walks around causing sleep paralysis.

The wiki page on immortality doesn’t offer much help except for a lot of paragraphs on the undead. She skims through the best she cares to. Basically everything is about vampires. She crosses that one off immediately because it doesn’t make sense for a Vampire to be out all day and go back in at night. She decides to search for reverse vampires after she finishes this page.

The next section is on scifi, which she honestly doesn’t want to read but she adds “realistic android” to the list, figuring she might have to charge at night.

Reverse Vampires seem to be a joke from a Simpsons episode and she can’t find any spooky lore. 

She starts to scribble down her best ideas on the back of the printed article that started this whole thing. When Troy finally shows up hours later, she hadn’t had much luck. Troy explains that his dad is driving Chad home too and that he needs to go. Sharpay responds with a whatever and shuts down the computer, thinking it’s about time for her to go too.

“I want to ask her.” Sharpay says.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea…” Troy protests.

“Well, I don’t have any better ideas!” Sharpay is tired. She’s tired of research, she’s tired of not knowing what’s going on, she’s tired. “Please?”

“I dunno… At least give it another day? Let me try it the nice way more tomorrow. She’s opened up! I promise!”

“Fine! But if we’re still clueless by the end of the day on thursday, I’m going to ask her!”

And with that, they headed towards the parking lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to make a dramatic exit when you're both going in the same direction... Anyway, it's been what a week since I last updated? Heck man... Also I loveddd typing in random google searches to find the kinda spooks Sharpay would find but I made sure that the Simpsons episode ft reverse vampires was pre2006? Even though I'm not really trying too hard to make this time accurate? Also I did find actual info on reverse vampires on some occult site that said they've been around since 605 BC and originated from ancient Babylon? Radical but that's literally the only site I found on them so idk if I trust that...


	7. Chapter Seven

 

Troy doesn’t have much time. He made a deal with Sharpay to have information on Gabriella by tomorrow, and so far all he knows is that she can’t be out at night. Or at school at night? Maybe she has a strict curfew? Or maybe she’s a werewolf???? He quickly does a Google search on whether there’s a full moon or not and is met with a firm “not.” In fact, the opposite. It’s going to be a new moon tonight. Huh. There goes that theory. Maybe he needs a new approach. A way to get information.

Troy sighs and plops down on his bed. He traces the spinning blades of the ceiling fan with his eyes. He’s probably going to be up half the night thinking, he figures. He can’t remember if he had homework or not but that hardly seems like a concern right now. He can probably copy any homework down from Zeke, he thinks. Normally Troy and Zeke are the most responsible when it comes to homework. Chad normally copies his and Jason sometimes copies Zeke’s if he bothers at all. Troy tries to get his work done but has trouble staying focussed on it. Any time not spent on basketball or with his team could count against him in a game. And god, if he’s the reason they lose a game he figures everyone would probably hate him. What other point does he have, really? 

Ugh, now he’s getting off topic. That’s enough self deprecation for one day. Where was he? Gabriella. Yeah. 

Asking her questions doesn’t seem to be getting him anywhere, but what else is there? Going through her phone? That doesn’t sound good. That doesn’t sound good at all. He has to be honest and direct. But how can he do that without being rude??? 

If being honest is rude and snooping around is  **bad** , what is there? He glances over at his wrist, before remembering he doesn’t even own a watch, and then proceeds to look at his clock. It’s already 7:30, so he should probably shower and get ready for bed, even though he’s pretty sure he’ll be up all night thinking anyway.

 

Apparently, sleep did come, because his alarm did wake him up Thursday morning. He sits in class uncomfortably, feeling Sharpay’s eyes bore holes in the back of his head. His head’s on the desk and Chad gives him a worried look. 

“Uh, everything alright?” Chad asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Troy mumbles. He’s tired. For all his thinking, he couldn’t think of anything and doesn’t actually remember falling asleep. 

This has been a long week. That fateful night at Karaoke last Saturday feels like a month ago at least, it’s hard to believe it’s only Thursday.  Despite how slow the week has been, Troy has a feeling today will go by far too fast. He glances over at Gabriella, her eyes glazed over and no papers on her desk. Occasionally Ms. Darbus asks her a question to which her response is dictionary perfect. Everytime she speaks Troy can feel Sharpay’s stare get more intense. 

Chad keeps glancing at Ryan, as if asking for some sort of explanation for Sharpay and Troy’s odd behavior. If Ryan returns his gaze, the only explanation he offers is a half shrug. Chad clicks his pen feverishly whenever Ryan looks his way. 

“Mr. Bolton!” Ms. Darbus snaps quickly, banging on Troy’s desk and snapping him back into focus. “Can you please tell me what I just said?” Troy glances at Chad, who gives him a pained look and shrugs.

“Uh… Welll…..” He scratches the back of his head and glances around the classroom nervously. 

“Not now, Miss Montez.” Darbus snaps, and Troy glaces back to see Gabriella slowly lower her hand. She catches Troy’s gaze and mouths ‘Shakespeare.’

“It was something about William Shakespeare, right?” Troy says quickly. 

“I’ll let you off this time Mr. Bolton, but the next time you nearly doze off in class it will be detention. Got it?” 

“Yes Ms. Darbus.” 

Just then the bell rings. Too late, in Troy’s opinion. He shoves his binder back into his backpack and quickly catches up with Gabriella right before she leaves the classroom.

“Thanks for the save,” He says earnestly, “I’m having kind of an off-day.”

“No problem,” Gabriella laughs, “But it’s only first period?”  
“Well, then, an off-morning I guess?” He laughs. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Anything wrong?”

_Quick. Gotta think of a cover…._  
“Uh, I dunno, maybe just worried about callbacks?” He pauses. “Y’know, I honestly wasn’t going to audition but now that I have? I don’t know if I really want in or not but I think I do? Which is…. Scary.” _Oversharing much?_

“Yeah, I get it.” Gabriella sighs. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m pretty shy.” She chuckles. “Shocker. But, uh, first there was Karaoke which was scary but… pretty fun? And part of why it was fun was because I figured I’d never see anyone there again but then here we are. And now…. We could be performing in front of a school of kids we see every day and I should be running away from that and yet I somehow kind of want to?” She runs her hand through her hair. “I dunno, I mean I probably won’t be at this school much longer. Probably just a few months before moving on but I still hate drawing attention to myself.”

Well…. That’s sure information. Not the kind Sharpay wants but sure a lot of information. 

“Yeah, and I feel like if I don’t devote all my time to Basketball and be The Basketball Guy then maybe my friends would leave me? And basketball is the entire reason I’m close with my dad and it’s supposed to be my whole future and my whole life’s built around it so… If I do something that’s Not Basketball then what will that make me? Will I even have a purpose anymore?” 

Troy’s gotta admit, this is a good conversation, however they are in the middle of the hallway with the warning bell ringing so they probably should get to class.

“Meet me on the roof during lunch.” Troy says quickly before running off to class.

His next class went by very slowly. It’s gym, which is code for “basketball class”, which normally makes it a fun class, but it’s impossible to focus on basketball or on conversation. It doesn’t help when he’s fairly certain his friends are gossiping about him and his dad keeps giving him a pitiful look. Eventually, class ends and he’s able to escape his well-meaning friends and make it to the roof. 

Gabriella is there already, sitting on a bench in the shade wearing sunglasses and a hat. Troy glances at the mostly cloudy sky and back over at Gabriella and shrugs, figuring it’s probably nothing important. 

“To be honest, I’m almost surprised you came up here to have lunch with me.” Troy said, scratching the back of his neck and pulling out his lunchbox. 

Gabriella froze. “Uh, lunch? Oh I.. Left mine at home. Whoopsies!” She laughed, sounding nervous.

“Uh, want some of mine?” Troy offered, pulling out a half a pb&j and holding out the bag holding the other half. 

“No thank you!” She said quickly.

“I insist,” Troy took a bite of his. “It’s really good, I promise.”

“I’m… uh… allergic to peanuts?”

Troy’s eyes widened. “Oh no! Will you like… die if I don’t put this away?”  
Gabriella laughed. “No, no, you can eat it. I just can’t eat it myself.”

Troy nodded and finished off half the sandwich and reached in the bag for the other half. “Do you think we should practice for callbacks?” He asked, changing the subject.

“Probably.” Gabriella sighed. I sang through it a few times at home. I think callbacks are tomorrow night, though, and I have a strict curfew.” 

Troy nodded, the mention of her curfew reminding him about his own deadline. What has he found out today? That she hates the spotlight? That she appears to hate the sunlight tool, if her sunglasses and hat are any indicator, and she can’t eat pb&j. 

Come to think of it, has he ever seen her eat anything?

Troy finishes his sandwich and closes the bag, reaching into his lunchbox for a bag of chips to offer to Gabriella.

“Uh, no thank you!” She practically squeaks.

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to go hungry…”

“I’m fine, really!” She insists. 

So, this seems like more than just a peanut allergy, then.  _ Act natural act natural act natural…. _

Troy opens up the bag of chips and pops one in his mouth. “Suit yourself.” 

The two sit in silence for a moment. It’s not quite uncomfortable silence but Troy still feels he needs to say  _ something _ . He’s pondering what he could possibly say, when Gabriella speaks up.

“If you don’t mind me asking… What’s the deal with you and Sharpay?”

“ _ What _ ?” 

“Well, I mean, I can’t tell if you’re friends or dating or hate each other.” She explains quickly. 

“Well we’re definitely not dating.”

“Sorry…” Gabriella visibly fights back a smile.

“As for the other two, I think we’re friends? I think she’s just mean to everyone so I don’t think she hates me.” 

“What’s she like? Other than like… mean.”  
What brought this on? “Well, she’s talented, of course. And very driven and passionate, though she kinda too intense sometimes…” He shrugs. “I dunno, she’s just Sharpay.”

Gabriella nods. Silence stretches on again. This time it’s only interrupted by the schoolbell. After saying his goodbyes, Troy rushes through the school to find Sharpay. 

He thinks he understands now.

He grabs Sharpay the moment he sees her and rushes her to the janitor’s closet. Zeke makes a strangled noise and Troy figures he better come up with an explanation before the next time he sees him but for now it doesn’t matter. For now, Troy’s gotta tell Sharpay that Gabriella’s a vampire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long time no see


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> boi its bout to happen

“A VAMPIRE?!” Troy winced at Sharpay’s grating words.  
“Well, if you say it like that it sounds kind of dumb….” Troy mumbled.  
“No, not that, it’s just…. Sunlight?” Sharpay moves her hand as if to run it through her hair before stopping it at her collarbone. She doesn’t spend hours on her hair for nothing. “Has she been eating, like, lunch? Garlic?”  
“She didn’t have any lunch and refused mine when I offered it, and kind of looked scared? Also she stayed out of the sunlight the whole time we were outside and wore a hat and sunglasses? And it’s winter so the sun’s… not as bright? Plus with the no-aging thing it makes the most sense.” He didn’t sound as sure of himself now as he had when he first slammed the closet door shut and declared Gabriella was a vampire.  
“Hmmm….” Sharpay tapped a pink fingernail on her chin. “I admit, I have considered ‘vampire’, but….” Sharpay paused for a moment, trying to think of why that seemed off. She was convinced before this that Gabriella wasn’t human, heck, she’d even considerred robot! Yet somehow…. She wasn’t ready to accept that vampires are real. “She’s not super pale?” Sharpay said finally, wincing at her own words. That was the only excuse she was able to think of, and was honestly idiotic. Corpses don’t turn white when they die, why would vampires??? “No.” she says quickly. She doesn’t like to apologize or ever say she’s wrong, but she doesn’t want Troy to do that either. “That’s not it….”  
“I’m trying to think of excuses too, it doesn’t..” Troy trailed off. “It’s the best explanation we have?” His uncertainty turns to deafening silence as the two stand there trying to wrap their minds around this and what it means.  
“I’m going to ask her.” Sharpay says finally.  
“What? No!” Troy exclaims.  
“What? Don’t think I can hold my own against a vampire? I’ll be fiiine..” Sharpay scoffs.  
“It’s not you I’m worried about.” Troy scratches the back of his neck. “You might.. Uh… scare her off?”  
“I’m flattered.” Sharpay says flatly. He fidgets a bit more, uncomfortable.  
“I mean… like…. She might be vampire strong or something but… She’s kind of… emotionally vulnerable? I barely managed to get her to open up to me and she seems extremely shy and scared and you can… uh… come on a bit… strong sometimes?”  
Sharpay rolls her eyes. “Me? Come on too strong? Honestly, Troy, you’re the one who ran up to a girl you barely know to demand she audition for the musical with you. I’m the subtle one here!!!”  
Ok, Sharpay’s gotta admit, she can be a little… Intense. She’s a drama kid, ok? It comes with the territory! Fine, there’s Kelsi and her brother too, and they aren’t as demanding.... But she’s not the problem here!!!! The vampire is!!!!! The vampire. Wow, ok, this is happening. Vampires. Eternal youth and perfection and power… That’s an intriguing concept…. A possibility maybe….  
“Sharpay? Why are you grinning?” Troy asks timidly.  
“Oh, nothing!” She says, excitement apparent in her sing-songy voice.  
“This is kind of a big mood change, should.. I be concerned?”  
“I don’t think so! Now we should probably get out of this closet, cause GROSS!” She gestures at the mop trolley next to them, filled with dirty water. She then opens the door, shoots Troy a finger wave and a “Toodles!” and marches down the hallway.  
She hides out in her car until the final bell rings. No use in getting a tardy, besides, she’s too preoccupied for school right now. When the bell rings, she steps out of her car and stalks up to the school, eyes searching for Gabriella. The waves of kids exiting the school parts before her, Gabriella’s face not among them. It’s not until she’s well into the emptying school building that she spots her. The two make eye contact for a moment, and Sharpay speeds up as she strides toward her.  
Gabriella scarcely moves as Sharpay approaches, the two not breaking eye-contact. Finally, the two are barely a foot apart, silently staring. Sharpay had so many thoughts running through her mind just moments before, she spent the half of last period she wasn’t in a closet for thinking of what to say, and yet when she’s this close, looking up into Gabriella’s eyes, it all goes blank. The now empty school is dead silent. The silence feels like it stretches on for years and Sharpay isn’t used to feeling powerless. Gabriella’s just on the higher end of average height, yet Sharpay is reminded just how short she is. Her brother once said that her dog, Boi, was a little dog who thought he was a big dog. Then, she laughed and pet the little yorkie, but now? She felt closer to her dog than ever.  
“What?” Gabriella asks, finally, voice shaking slightly. Sharpay takes a deep breath in and out, exhaling her nerves and channeling her normal power.  
“I know what you are.” She says, more softly than she intended.  
She’s suddenly aware Gabriella’s not breathing. She doesn’t know if she was breathing earlier at all, all she knows is Gabriella’s not breathing now.  
“And what is that?” Gabriella’s soft voice is barely a whisper.  
Sharpay gulps, looking into Gabriella’s wide eyes almost steering her confidence.  
Almost.  
“Vampire.” She breathes.  
Gabriella freezes. She was barely moving before but now it’s like she’s a statue. Or maybe a corpse, to be morbidly accurate. Gabriella’s eyes are glassy now, the life in them before fading at Sharpay’s words. Sharpay’s eyes flicker over the girl’s face. Though Gabriella is still, Sharpay is shaking.  
Sharpay doesn’t shake often. She lives off the adrenaline rush performing gives her and enjoys drinking lots of lattes, but she never shakes. Shaking shows weakness. It shows fear. And Sharpay has a fearless, powerful image to maintain. She doesn’t shake. But right now? She’s practically vibrating.  
“I’ve… got to go.” Gabriella says suddenly, her voice almost hoarse as if she’d forgotten how to form words. She rushes past Sharpay faster than Sharpay can process, and is gone in an instant. Sharpay places her hand on her bare arm that Gabriella brushed as she passed, and stands there in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twilight was published in 2005 and hsm1 takes place in 2006... it was super tempting to drop a twilight reference into sharpay's internal monologue but i refrained.


	9. Chapter Seven

Gabriella wasn’t at school the next day. Sharpay sat in dejected silence at her desk first period and Troy kept trying to make eye contact with her but she never looked up. 

Ryan tried not to involve himself in this bit of drama--in fact, he rarely wants to be involved in  _ any _ of his sister’s drama--but since Sharpay had a new partner in crime, he managed to stay out. And it’s been  _ GREAT. _ With his sister hanging out with Troy, he hung out with Troy’s best friend. He never expected to connect with Chad as much as he had, but Chad is witty and clever and funny and….

Alright, Ryan just might, possibly, maybe… kind of has feelings for Chad. 

But that’s beside the current point. Right now, Ryan’s main concern is the fact his sister ran home and slammed her bedroom door without a word to anybody, and he didn’t even hear music blasting from her room which means something is  _ SERIOUSLY WRONG _ and she still hasn’t said a word to  _ anybody _ since yesterday.

Ryan might get annoyed by his sister, sure. He might be a bit sick of being the sidekick or assistant. But! Ryan still loves his sister to death and is  _ VERY CONCERNED! _ He glances over at Troy, who meets his eyes, and Ryan gives him a look that reads “ _ what’s up with my sister?”  _ Troy responds with an eloquent shrug. Troy keeps glancing at the empty seat where Gabriella usually sits. After shrugging at Ryan, he starts looking at the seat again. 

Ryan knows Gabriella is the center of Sharpay’s current plot. He was there that day in the library and know Gabriella’s already graduated. He has he’s curious, sure, but doesn’t really want to deal with it? He knew his sister would tell him what’s up anyway, once it’s all figured out, but now that she’s silently moping, he’s concerned.

He feels a slip of paper brush against his arm and glances back down on his desk to find a note from Chad. 

_ “What’s up with the dynamic duo?” _

Ryan meets Chad’s eyes and, following Troy’s example, eloquently shrugs. 

Class ends soon enough, and Sharpay leaves the room, Troy practically running after her. Sharing one quick glance, Ryan and Chad follow suit. They peer around a corner as the scene unfolds.

“What happened? What did she say to you?” Troy whispers, rather loudly, looking rather concerned.

“She… ran off?” Sharpay’s voice is more low and groggy than shrill and demanding. 

“...what did you say to her?” Troy asks hesitantly.

“I… said I knew what she was… she asked what… I said a vampire and she ran off…” Sharpay’s voice was too shaky for that to be all.

It hurt Ryan to hear Sharpay like this. Sharpay hasn’t had many breakdowns. She rarely cries, rarely gets shaken up by anything. Ryan knows her well enough to know when she’s hurting, and is always there for her when she’s hurting, but it’s rarely visible like this. It’s… unnerving. 

Chad shoots Ryan a shocked look, probably shocked by the whole vampire thing, but Ryan doesn’t take his eyes off of his sister. 

“Is… that all?” Troy’s voice is cautious, treading the conversation like thin ice. 

“There was…” Sharpay takes a deep breath. “Lot’s of silence. She doesn’t move much. She was… so still…. Like a… corpse? But her eyes were so full of emotion and life and then I said ‘vampire and suddenly she was blank…. Dead looking…. And….” Sharpay grabs at her arm and shivers. “She was so cold….”

Troy is silent for a long moment. His mouth would open, and close, like he kept trying to find words just out of his grasp. Ryan glances over at Chad, whose brows were knit in confusion. Chad turns to him and mouthes  _ ‘Vampires????’ _

Today was a day for shrugging, apparently, since that was the only reply Ryan had.

“We have to find her.” Troy finally spoke again. 

“What?” Sharpay practically gasps. “Why???”  
“I dunno… She could be hurt? Or hurt other people?” He pauses for a moment. “Plus, we just found out that-” He continues in a quieter tone that Ryan can barely hear, “ _Vampires_ are real! We can’t just… go back to pretending like nothing ever happened!”

Sharpay looks at him for a moment before muttering “I need to get to class…” and disappearing down the hall. Troy sighs and runs a hand through his hair, before turning to walk in the other direction. Ryan grabs a shocked Chad and pulls him too the side so Troy won’t see as he passes. 

“Vampires?  _ Vampires?”  _ Chad hisses, eyes wide. Before Ryan can respond--not that he knows what to say--the warning bell rings and Chad says “I gotta get to class; my mom would kill me if she got the call I skipped… Meet me at lunch?” Ryan nods quickly before Chad walks away.

It’s a long class period before lunch. Second period is his one class without Sharpay or Chad, but Kelsi’s there which is usually fun, despite the fact Sharpay doesn’t want them to be friends.

Except she doesn’t know anything about the vampire situation, and Ryan isn’t going to tell her about the vampire situation, and the vampire situation is the only thing on Ryan’s mind.

“Did you find out what was off with your sister?” Kelsi asks. She doesn’t like Sharpay, and frankly? If Ryan were in her shoes he wouldn’t like Sharpay either. Despite Kelsi’s personal feelings, she’s a good friend and knows that Ryan loves his sister. 

“Nope.” Kelsi can tell he isn’t going to expand on that, and drops it. The two don’t talk very much except for Kelsi’s occasional quip about the lesson. The class finally ends and Ryan power walks so fast he’s practically running out to lunch. Chad beats him there, but solely because the gym is closer to the cafeteria than Ryan’s second period. Ryan highly doubts Chad was rushing to the cafeteria as fast as he was.

Chad stands outside, leaning against the wall, still looking stunned. 

“Hey.” Ryan says, trying his darndest not so sound breathless.

“Hey.” Chad responds, also sounding breathless. Probably since he just came from gym.

And had to change out of his uniform.

And still beat Ryan here.

Huh.

“So…. Vampires.”  Chad says, after a moment of silence.

“Vampires.” 

“That’s a thing that we just found out about.”

“Sure is.” Ryan shrugs, because that seems to be an ongoing theme for today. “Should we…. Go somewhere more private?” He’s certain he’s imagining the slight pink to Chad’s face.

“Yeah, uh, that’d be a good plan. Where to? The library?” 

“I’d suggest the theater but I feel like Darbus hears everything said in there.” Ryan laughs. “Yeah, the library sounds good.”  
The two walk to the library in silence. It’s not until they’re both sitting at a secluded table in the back corner that Ryan speaks up.

“I… know the beginning.” 

Chad gives him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

“On monday, Shar had me in here to help her research Gabriella. I was the one who spotted the one little detail that started this all. She graduated. Like, five years ago she graduated. And looked the exact same. Sharpay saw how Gabriella reacted to Troy that day and latched on to him to figure this out. I don’t normally get the opportunity to be excluded from Sharpay’s schemes, so I went for it. Or, away I guess? I knew she’d tell me whatever she found out once the ordeal was over, since she tells me everything, so as curious as I was I wanted to take a break?” Ryan sighs. “I’m rambling a bit, sorry.”

Chad nodded. “Alright. Wow. So. How do we know Gabriella wasn’t some kind of high school addict and is just like, what, 21 now? And going back to high school just cause?” 

“Well, she doesn’t seem to enjoy it very much, considering how freaked out she always looks…”

“Yeah, ok. You’re right. I just…. I’m kind of having trouble wrapping my mind around  _ vampires _ , y’know? Like I watched Buffy-”

“Wait, you like Buffy?” Ryan interjected.

“I just said I’d watched it.” Chad grumbled. “Yeah, ok, it was great, but anyway, vampires are no joke. And Troy said… He was gonna go after her? A vampire? And he could get hurt?” It’s not often that Chad gets this visibly emotional. Ryan awkwardly moves to pat him on the back. 

“So…. we go after him?” Ryan asks. 

“Yeah… we go after him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? Whaaaaaat? Also bonus points for Chyan, go me! Also... I live for Ryan and Sharpay being good siblings who love each other very much. And disclaimer: I have not seen an episode of Buffy in my life but it's the biggest pop culture vampire thing in 2006 I think, except for maybe Twilight, which was published a year earlier... But I don't know if Twilight got really big within that year???? Anyway, if ur interested in Twilight.... im @Vampowerment on tumblr and live for gay emo vampire ed cullen.... ;)


	10. Chapter Ten

Troy was… having emotions. He was currently an emotional cocktail, unable to identify more than three emotions (concern, confusion, and anxiety) and yet he knew there was more in there. He could feel it swirling in his head and stomach and honestly felt a little dizzy.

He was sure, however, that he was going to hunt down Gabriella. He didn’t quite know  _ how, _ just that he would. He looked for Sharpay during lunch, who soon grabbed him and yanked him out to the courtyard so fast he got whiplash. 

“I’m know how to find her.” Sharpay says, without even a hi. Troy wasn’t going to complain about formalities, however, while Sharpay was providing him with the answers to his current predicament.

“How?” 

“The geek club, or whatever it’s called.” Sharpay says, grinning. It was good to see her like this again, although her plan didn’t make sense.

“How?” Troy asks again.

“Alright! So you know her number, right?” Troy nods, remembering that fateful night at the ski lodge. “Sooooooo, we can take that to the geek club, and they can triangulate it or whatever so we know where she is!” Sharpay seems rather proud of this plan, and Troy has to admit it’s better than his plan (which was so far, nothing); however, he still isn’t quite sure how they can track her down using a phone number.

“So, when do we talk to the mathletes?” Troy asks, not sure what the club’s actually called but not wanting to call it the ‘geek club.’

“Taylor, the like, geek-president, is in my math class. So I told her to meet me right here at the end of lunch.” Sharpay crossed her arms smugly.   
“So… we’re here until then?”  
“Yep.”

“So.. uh.. You feel better?” Troy asks hesitantly.

“Yeah, sure. Once I hunt her down and make her turn me I’ll be good.”

“Wait, what?!” Troy wasn’t expecting that. “But we don’t know what vampires are like in real life! It could be awful! And dangerous!”

“Well, I’m thinking, I’m in my prime right now--gorgeous, skin clear, haven’t wrinkled yet, agile, etcetera, but in a few years? I’ll be like… old. Like twenty. Ew.” She shudders at the thought. “Pluus, if Twilight’s accurate, I’ll glitter! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I love glitter!” She gestures at her outfit which is bedazzled to the nines. “Seems like a good deal to me.”

“You might have to drink human blood?”

“Do you  _ know _ how many disgusting kale smoothies I drink? I think I can handle a little blood.”

“But you might have to… kill people?” 

“It’s the circle of life, Troy! I’d be at the top of the food chain!” 

“Everyone else will get old and die while you’re still young…”  
“Well, I’m pretty sure I’d outlive everyone _anyway…..”_

Troy… Can’t understand her reasoning. He doesn’t feel like he’s peaking now. He doesn’t feel like living high school over and over or killing people or losing all his friends…. 

Troy doesn’t like school. He likes the people in school, and hanging out with his friends but… actual school? Kind of feels like a cage. He feels like he’s set up an image for himself that he won’t be able to break from inside school. He feels like he needs to get through school in order to finally break away from his present self, not preserve it. Troy tries to think of another thing to say to Sharpay, something to change her mind, but he can’t think of anything. Luckily, conversation drops as Taylor walks up.

“Sharpay.” She says briskly. 

“You.” Sharpay responds, as if she didn’t know her name, despite the fact she just said it earlier. 

“So, what did you call me out here for?” Taylor doesn’t so much as glance in Troy’s direction. All business. 

“Can you help us locate someone? It’s important.” Wow, that sounded like a question. Sharpay’s working on her manners.

“Depends.” Taylor crosses her arms, not moving her eyes away from Sharpay’s. “Why?”

“That’s not for you to know.”  
“Apologies, I was under the impression you needed my help.”

“It’s Gabriella!” Troy interjects, sensing the rising tension. “She ran off upset yesterday and we don’t know where she is and we’re really concerned she’ll get hurt.”

Taylor finally looks at Troy, but only after Sharpay breaks eye contact. Taylor’s every move reads power, even when she isn’t speaking. Sharpay might be more demanding, but Taylor is a calm power.

“What does it matter to you?” She asks, voice not judging nor sympathetic.

“Because it’s kind of our fault?” 

“How.” Not a question, really. A question suggests an answer whereas Taylor demanded one without even raising her voice.

“We found out something about her we probably weren’t supposed to and…” He glances at Sharpay, “ _ We _ confronted her and she ran off crying and no one has seen her since.” 

“Don’t you think it’s her parent’s job to find her?” 

“I think if we made this mess, we have to fix it.” 

“Alright.” Taylor shrugs, “I’ll help you.”

Troy and Sharpay exchange glances before looking back at Taylor. 

“You will?” Troy asks.

“Yep. I still want Gabriella on the Scholastic Decathlon Team, and your intentions seem pure. What do you have for me?”

Troy hands over his phone, Gabriella’s contact information open.

“I need a computer for this.” Taylor turns and begins to walk off, Sharpay and Troy still standing where they were. “You coming?” They then hurry after her.

After a bit of typing and other things Troy and Sharpay didn’t understand, Taylor had Gabriella--or her phone, at least--pinpointed. The catch, however, is that she appeared to be in the middle of the woods and moving fast. 

Troy turns to Sharpay, who’s still staring at the screen in thought. “So… any plans?”

Sharpay flips her pink bedazzled phone open and hands it to Taylor. “Type in your number.” She says simply. 

“Why?” Taylor asks, giving Sharpay a bored look.

“So you can call us while we’re in the woods and tell us where to go? Duh?”

Taylor glances at the fast moving dot on the screen before taking Sharpay’s phone to type in her number. “And I need one of your numbers to keep track of you to give you the right directions.” 

Sharpay turns to Troy. He sighs and tells Taylor his number, and she pulls up his location on the screen. Technology is scary.  _ Taylor _ is scary.

“Are you two planning on ditching third period? I refuse to put my perfect attendance in jeopardy.”

“Nope! We’re busting out the black and sneaking out tonight!” Sharpay says with a grin.

“We are?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like in canon Taylor is too perfect which makes her kind of bland.... Sharpay and Kelsi are the only well fleshed out girls? Whereas all the guys get good character development and flaws? It's far easier to give Gabriella flaws and personality than it is for Taylor, though, so I hope I'm doing justice to her character.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chad and Ryan were just leaving the library when they spotted Troy and Sharpay with Taylor. They quickly hid behind a bookcase to listen in, hearing Sharpay’s plans.

“I don’t think she owns black.” Ryan mutters. Chad cracks him a smile.

Taylor was currently arguing the schematics of breaking into the school to get on the computer at night, while Sharpay was insisting it would all work out. Troy mentioned that he has a key to the school because his dad trusted him with a spare. They both turned to him, surprised, and Troy shrugged and explained he sometimes likes to shoot hoops in the gym when it’s empty. Chad is appalled that Troy never told him about that. Troy handed the key to Taylor without much thought, Taylor was probably less likely to lose it than he was.

The three eventually finished talking and rushed out of the library right before the bell rang, leaving Ryan and Chad in silence.

“So….” Chad says, “We’re planning on following them, right?”

Ryan nods. “I can trail Sharpay pretty easily since, y’know, I live with her. Do you wanna follow Troy or meet me at my house or….?”

“I live within walking distance of Troy’s house. I can follow him and then we can meet up when they meet up.”

“Sounds like a plan! Now we should probably get to class…” 

Chad’s grateful he has 3rd period with Ryan. He’s pretty sure he wouldn’t last without him there. 4th period, however, he had with the rest of his friends instead. Normally, this was great; however, Troy and himself were both mentally MIA leading to Jason and Zeke’s suspicion. 

“What’s wrong with you guys?” Jason says, more unintentionally blunt than rude. 

“Homework.” Chad hurriedly says at the same time Troy says “Callbacks.” They both look at each other, Troy giving Chad a ‘Do you know?’ and Chad giving him an “I don’t know what you mean’ look back, figuring that if Troy knew he knew it would blow his and Ryan’s plans.

Ok, maybe it would have made the situation easier. Maybe Troy would have told him everything he needed to know, and he wouldn’t have to sneak out with Ryan. But maybe, Chad really wanted to sneak out with Ryan. Maybe, just maybe, he really wanted that little bit of alone time sneaking in the shadows and worried that if this whole thing wrapped up then Ryan might not want to hang out with him anymore. Maybe.

Alright, maybe Chad had feelings. Feelings just in general were a tricky thing for him. He tended to sort all of his feelings into two categories: happy and mad. If anything  _ didn’t _ fit into those categories, that was tough. He knows how to deal with being happy, he knows how to deal with being mad, but the other ones? Fear? Confusion? Love? Nope. Can’t feel those ones. That’s not allowed.

He knows he’s being ridiculous, yes, but does that mean he’ll stop? Probably not.

Class ends, eventually. Jason and Zeke eventually just talking to each other instead of trying to engage Troy and Chad. The second the bell rang, the two were immediately out the door, Troy looking for Sharpay and Chad looking for Ryan. 

He and Ryan chatted while making their way to the parking lot--as opposed to Chad heading to the gym, since there’s no basketball practice on Fridays.

Normally Friday feels more like an ending. Like the week is being wrapped up. However, leaving school on this particular Friday, it felt more like a beginning. Chad had no idea what was going to happen next, but it was big and he was practically giddy with excitement. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's a bit short, but i felt like there needed to be a bit of the chad and ryan's side before switching back to troy and sharpay to build up the finale.  
> i mean, there'll probably be a few more chapters, not just one more, but we are currently into the final stretch. the plot in movie time, we're like right before the scholastic decathlon/basketball game/callbacks. but in like the fics time in movie time, theres a basketball game saturday night and callbacks around noon and gabby hasn't joined the scholastic decathlon because sharpay didn't reveal her smarts to the world.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Sharpay really didn’t own much black. It took her a whole lot of digging in her ginormous closet in order to finally find a pair of black leggings, a little black dress, and a black peacoat. Then, it took her raiding her brother’s closet to find a black beanie. After about an hour or so, she stood in front of her mirror with a smirk on her face. She had two symmetrical stripes of black eyeliner on both cheeks and her hair was tied in a low bun, mostly hidden by the hat except for the few locks framing her face. Her leggings were tucked into black combat boots that she hadn’t worn except for halloween a few years ago. She wrapped a black sequin scarf in front of her mouth for one final touch.

She snuck out stealthily through her front door, got in her car, and drove off. Discreetly. The sun hadn’t quite set so she put on her sunglasses. No matter, it was going to set soon. 

She pulls up at Troy’s house and shoots him a quick text to “GET OUTSIDE, NOW!” When he runs outside she sees he’s just in a black tee shirt and blue jeans. Where’s the dedication??? 

“I told you about the strict all-black dresscode, right?” Sharpay snaps as Troy opens the passenger door. 

“This is all the black I have!” He practically yelps. Sharpay rolls her eyes.

“Anyway…. Taylor should be at the school soon to give us instructions. Right now we’re heading to woods to get a headstart. She should be in by the time we get there.” Sharpay pulls away, turning the car around to head toward the edge of the woods. By the time they got there, Taylor had--sure enough--texted her. 

“She’s at the computer now. She says Gabriella is north of us. Did you bring a compass?” 

Troy shakes his head.

“Ughhh!!!!” Sharpay groans and sends Taylor a text asking for  _ helpful _ directions and starts marching forward, Troy close behind. The sun is setting at this point, making Sharpay’s outfit more useful and her sunglasses less useful. She pushes them back onto her head and Troy turns on a flashlight. At least he’s  _ sort of  _ useful.

They walk for awhile, silent except for Sharpay occasionally reading Taylor’s texts outloud. 

_ Ok, you’re getting extremely close, _ Taylor texts after it feels like they’ve been walking forever. Troy shivers. Ugh, this is why he should have planned his outfit better!

“What was that?” Troy asks, nearly a whisper.

“Sounds like a branch snapped.” Sharpay mutters. “Maybe it’s her?” Regardless of what it sounds like, her heart totally is NOT speeding up at this point.

“There it was again!” Troy’s whisper is louder and more frantic at this point. The rustling gets louder and more frequent and the two back into each other, frantically looking around the dark woods. Sharpay’s phone lights up.

_ A few steps to the left.... _

Sharpay silently shows the screen to Troy, and the two slowly move to the left as a solid unit. 

The rustling stops.

It’s dead silent except for the beating of their hearts which, ok ok, Sharpay’s heartbeat has  _ definitely sped up. _

_ SNAP _

Sharpay miiight have jumped on top of Troy, and the two miiight have fallen to the ground. 

“GABRIELLA?!” Troy calls out. “WE’RE NOT GONNA HURT YOU!” 

Kind of hard to even if they wanted to, considering she’s a  _ vampire _ and they’re on the ground shaking. 

The rustling speeds ahead of them, then behind them, like they’re being circled. Sharpay and Troy clutch onto each other in fear. 

“Gabriella…” Troy’s voice is shakey but certain. “We know you’re not going to hurt us and we’re not gonna hurt you. We… We want you to come back to East High.”

The rustling slows to a stop. Sharpay relaxes a little bit and moves her hand to push herself back to her feet. “OW!” She hisses as her hand pushes down on a rather sharp stick. She snatches her hand away and holds it in her other hand as she watches the tiny drops of blood oozes out in the dim light. She freezes and makes eye contact with Troy for a brief second before Gabriella bursts through the trees.

At least, she assumes it’s Gabriella. 

The creature is big, for one, and while Gabriella is taller than Sharpay she’s honestly just average height. This…  _ thing _ , however, is taller than anyone on the basketball team. Not superhumanly tall, but rather it looks like it has Gabriella’s skin stretched over a larger, sharper, skeleton. Emphasis on sharper. Drool drips from its gaping mouth, unable to close over the size of its sharp teeth. Not just two little teeth, but rows upon rows of huge sharp teeth, fighting for room among a few normal teeth. Troy’s flashlight reflects off her eyes like a raccoon. Gabriella’s hair appears to be barely hanging on the scalp. Gabriella’s normal colorful attire is stretched and ripped over this larger skeleton and her normally stubby gnawed on nails stretch longer than her hands and as sharp as her teeth. Her ears are larger and pointier, almost resembling a bat’s.

She’s…. Terrifying. 

Sharpay can’t even scream. She can’t even move. She feels like hours pass as she’s staring up at this strange, horrible creature that vaguely resembles the shy girl in her math class. It’s like everything is slower, from the wind in the trees to her own shaking. Until suddenly it speeds up again, and as Gabriella begins to lunge for her, she hears screaming. She nearly mistakes it for her own before her brother jumps in through the trees with an awfully sharp stick and a necklace of garlic. Right behind him is Chad, holding a water gun and a small cross made out of popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. 

Gabriella hisses in pain and drops to the ground as she’s drenched in water and pelted with garlic. When his gun runs out of ammo, Chad starts smacking her on the head with his popsicle stick cross, his screaming not pausing for a second. Ryan is occasionally screaming, but not nearly as intensely as Chad. Sharpay thinks briefly to callbacks tomorrow, and if Ryan will blow his voice. Really not the thing to be concerned with right now, regardless. Sharpay and Troy exchange glances.

“Chad!” Troy yells, “You can stop now, we’re fine!” Chad can’t hear him over his own screams. 

“RYAN!” Sharpay shrieks, this time both of them can hear. “Thanks for the help, but don’t _kill_ _her_ or anything!”

Ryan looks up at Sharpay, looks at the stake in his hands, and drops the stake. “Good point.” 

Chad has stopped screaming but he’s anything but silent. He was much quieter now but he was letting out a seemingly never ending string of “Oh my god!”s. He clutched his popsicle sticks and looked over at Ryan, eyes wide. Ryan was looking down at the monster. 

Gabriella was smaller now, less sharp and more soft. She was extremely still.

“Did… you kill her?” Troy whispered hesitantly. 

“Oh my god!” Chad was louder this time, gasping in horror. Ryan rested his hand on his shoulder and motioned for Sharpay to check her pulse. Sharpay gave him a “ _ Why don’t YOU check his pulse!” _ look and he shot her a stern expression. Chad was apparently too emotionally fragile for murder. Definitely not suited for being a vampire.

Sharpay cautiously walked up to Gabriella. Her skin still looked smooth, despite being stretched so thin it was almost translucent a moment before. Her dark eyelashes protected her closed eyes and her pouty lips were parted slightly. Her hair’s in her face. Sharpay didn’t think much of her fingers brushing across the girl’s smooth skin to tuck her hair behind her ear. 

She looks peaceful, like she could be sleeping. She could be dead. 

Sharpay moves her fingers to Gabriella’s throat, but can’t find her pulse. She panics for a moment, but thinks, do vampires even have a pulse? She’s pretty sure Gabriella wasn’t  _ breathing _ yesterday, it isn’t hard to assume she doesn’t have a pulse. 

Sharpay glances at her finger, the tiny bit of blood drying but still there, and sticks it under Gabriella’s nose. Is that stupid? Probably. Does Sharpay care? Nope. 

Gabriella’s eyes slowly flutter open. They glow in the dim light of Troy’s flashlight. She starts shaking. Sharpay slaps her. 

“Snap out of it, Montez!” She yells. “Don’t go all monstery on me this time! Well, unless you want to turn me into a vampire, then that’s cool...” The idea of being taller sounds pretty nice, and Gabriella seems to have a nice smile despite her atrocious case of hyperdontia moments earlier.  Not to mention permanently wrinkle and blemish free skin….

“What?!” Words sound foreign in Gabriella’s mouth, like she’s getting used to speaking again and her body again. “Why would you want that? Why would you _ever_ _want that?_ ” Her eyes dim to normal as she sits up, meeting Sharpay’s eyes. 

“Do I really have to go through this again? Ok, so, I feel like I’m peaking right now. I’m gorgeous and I am  _ SO TIRED _ of trying to prevent wrinkles and I want to be young forever? That sounds fabulous! So if you can hurry up and bite me that would be  _ great…. _ ”

“No! What? Do you not understand how awful this is? I have to move around  _ constantly _ in fear of being discovered. I have to drink blood! And this is my second time in 11th grade? It was boringly easy the first time and now I’m doing it again? I can’t go out at night for fear of growing into some kind of awful monster, I can’t get close to people for fear of snapping and drinking their blood, not to mention the fact I can’t even eat brownies anymore? Or GARLIC BREAD?” She’s crying. It’s very dry, no tears or boogers or drool or any of the normal stuff and she isn’t even gasping for air since she doesn’t need to breathe, it’s just dry sobs. She clutches Sharpay’s shoulders and shakes violently, her words broken. “These last five three years have been nothing. Nothing! I’ve just been sitting by while life moves on and I’m stuck like this forever and I don’t know how you could possibly  _ WANT THIS!I” _

Sharpay pats her on the back a few times, unsure of what to do or say to comfort a crying vampire. She glances over at Troy who gives her a shrug and an expression a mix of “ _ I told you so” _ and pity. She looks over at Ryan who’s distracted by comforting Chad, and Chad who’s distracted by his own emotional turmoil. She looks back down at the girl sobbing in her arms, and starts rubbing circles into her back.

“Shhh…. Let it out….” Sharpay knows when  _ she’s _ upset, the only thing she really wants (other than to seek revenge on the person who caused her pain and get justice) is to just scream and cry until she loses the energy to care. She… hopes that helps Gabriella?

Weird how she was cowering in fear moments ago and now she’s cradling the sobbing girl in her arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	13. Chapter 13

Chad thinks he’s pretty calm. Sure, he’s practically vibrating from adrenaline, and might be crying, but it’s ok. He’s totally calm. He might have almost murdered some girl from his first period--who happens to be A VAMPIRE? WHAT?--but it’s fine. He’s fine. He’s tootally fine.

Oh, and Ryan Evans might have his arms around him, but Chad’s TOTALLY CALM. 

Sharpay is having a conversation with Gabriella, so Chad did NOT murder a vampire, which is both comforting and alarming. What if a super evil vampire attacks and Chad can’t do anything about it? What if Gabriella is a super evil vampire?

“Blood!” Chad exclaims out loud. Ryan and Troy both turn to look at him quizzically. Chad’s voice drops down to a whisper, “Where does she get her… you know….” 

Troy and Ryan look at Chad, exchange glances, and then look back at Chad. 

“...yeah.” Troy says after a while. 

Chad turns to Ryan who just nods, his eyebrows scrunched together and lips pursed. 

“Should we… ask her?” Chad asks.

“Not now!” Troy says quickly. “But yeah, we should probably ask.” 

None of them really know what to say. Gabriella is sobbing, Sharpay is holding her tightly, Ryan still has his arm around Chad, and Troy is just standing there. 

“So!” Troy says, breaking the silence, “Are you.. Uh.. ready for the big game on friday?”

“Oh yeah, I guess it is this friday.” Chad says nonchalantly. Troy looks shocked.

“Chad, are you feeling ok?”

“Yeah, sure, just tired. There’s.. A lot going on.” Chad leans against Ryan because he’s tired. Yeah, that’s it.

“I know what you mean; callbacks are tomorrow and I haven’t even thought about reading over the music all day, and I don’t even think Shar has either.” Ryan shifts his arm around Chad so it’s more comfortable and Chad’s heart might have sped up. Maybe.

“Oh shoot! Callbacks are tomorrow!” Troy exclaims. “I totally forgot!” He sits down criss cross on the ground in front of Chad and Ryan, who had already been sitting. Chad might have fallen to the ground while sobbing uncontrollably and muttering incoherently before Ryan grabbed hold of him. Maybe. He wasn’t really super aware of the world around him for a little bit there.

The three talk about school stuff for another half hour while Sharpay works on calming Gabriella down. Chad doesn’t let himself think about how weird it all is, but he feels better. 

“Troy!” Sharpay yells after a while.

“What?” Troy asks, nervously.

“I’m gonna drive Gabby home, you can come with or ride with Ryan, I don’t care.”

Troy looks between Sharpay and Gabriella, who are holding hands and both look like they’ve been crying, and Chad, who is in Ryan’s lap, and realizes both options aren’t great. 

“I don’t have all day!” Sharpay snaps. 

_ Ask Gabriella about the blood _ , Chad mouths. 

Third wheeling for Sharpay and Gabriella it is then. 

The car ride is… awkward. Troy is exiled to the very small and uncomfortable back seat of Sharpay’s hot pink mustang, and the whole time feels like he’s missed out on a lot. 

“So…” He says after a while. “The vampire thing, huh?”

“Yeah, my parents were turned right after I was born, and I kind of always wanted to be one, ever since since I was a kid, even though they told me about all the downsides... I somehow still thought it sounded great?” Gabriella sighed. “The compromise was that they wouldn’t turn me until I was 18, because they wanted me to be able to do adult things and have a life of my own, and they’re permanently in their early 20s so I think they also wanted me to always look younger than them, which I totally agree with. 

“You know how people say that when you die your life flashes in front of you? Well, kind of the opposite happened with me. The future for me is eternity, cause I won’t age. I can die, yeah, but it’s unlikely. It didn’t affect my parents too bad, because they’d already had me and started their lives, but I was fresh out of high school, I hadn’t applied for college yet, only because I knew I had to take a year off to get my footing as a vampire, and now looking ahead, it’s daunting. 

“I have so much time, I can honestly do whatever I want now. I didn’t realize until I had forever what having a deadline, pun totally intended, really means? We work for things in our lives because we need to achieve them before we die, but if I don’t die, then I have forever to achieve something, which means I can do absolutely nothing for decades, maybe even centuries, and still achieve my dreams. It makes working for things in the now seem pointless and I can’t seem to motivate myself to do anything bigger than just a day by day kind of school thing.”

That wasn’t the kind of response Troy expected. 

“Maybe you just need to find something that has a deadline to devote yourself to.” Troy says, “Like a contest, performance, or festival kind of thing. Callbacks are tomorrow, if you still wanna-”

“Oh crap!” Gabriella exclaims. “I forgot about callbacks!”

“Has everyone but me forgotten about callbacks?!” Sharpay exclaims and the car lurches forward for a second before Sharpay calms down and focuses back on the road. “Like, come  _ on _ I think even Ryan’s forgotten!”

“I’m sorry! I’ve just been distracted!”

“Well, me too, but the school musical is my LIFE! Nothing can distract me from that!” The car swerves slightly as she turns to look at Troy and Gabriella.

“Please focus on the road!” Troy exclaims. “Gabriella might not be able to die but I can!”

“Hey, I said it’s unlikely for me to die, not impossible! I’m in danger to!” Gabriella says with a laugh. Soon, Troy and Sharpay are laughing too. It feels strangely normal, and exactly as it should be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, it's been a hot minute. I'm wrapping up this fic here, because I honestly can't think of a better ending for this plot line than this. I do, however, want to better develop the relationships in this universe, because I feel like I neglected that in favor of plot, so I miiight do some oneshots that don't have any major plot-focus in order to give some closure there, but I don't know if there's any demand for that. Thank you for coming on this extremely self indulgent journey with me, I mad appreciate it.


End file.
